Report 2016-141 Recommendation 12 Responses
Report 2016-141: Charter Schools: Some School Districts Improperly Authorized and Inadequately Monitored Out‑of‑District Charter Schools (Release Date: October 2017)
Recommendation #12 To: Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District
To ensure compliance with state law, Acton-Agua Dulce Unified should immediately establish a procedure to periodically review and update its charter school policy to include all of the requirements in state law.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021
The District regularly reviews changes in the laws governing charter schools and updates its policies and procedures accordingly. The District's Board is set to adopt an updated charter school policy this Fall. A problem with this recommendation is that updated responses are always required in October just as the Legislature has completed its session and before the District has had an opportunity to review recent legislation and consider amending and revising its policies and procedures to reflect changes.
- Completion Date: November 2019
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented
Acton-Agua Dulce Unified provided documents demonstrating that it has periodically reviewed and updated its charter school policy to address changes in state law.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2020
Recommendation 12 was to periodically review and update the District's Charter School Policy as charter school law changes. The District continues to set periodic reviews of needed policy changes, based on changes in state law. Our next review will take place November 12, 2020 This Recommendation has been fully implemented.
- Completion Date: October 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: No Action Taken
The district failed to provide evidence supporting its assertions.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2019
The District refers the State Auditor to its 2019 response to Recommendation 11.
Recommendation 12 was to periodically review and update the District's Charter School Policy as charter school law changes. The District has done that and will continue to do that. This Recommendation has been fully implemented.
- Completion Date: October 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: No Action Taken
The district did not provide any new evidence to support its assertions. As we noted in our 2018 response, the district's revised charter school policy includes amended language regarding student outcomes, but the charter review matrix does not contain this language. According to the district's policy, "district staff will use the Board-approved Acton-Agua Dulce Charter Review Matrix as the tool for the evaluation and recommendation" of petitions. Because the matrix is the district's primary tool for authorizing charter schools, we believe that it should be updated to reflect changes in state law.
Moreover, although the district provided evidence that it updated its policy in October 2018, it has provided no assurances that it will continue to update its policies regularly. As we noted on page 33 of our audit report, the district adopted its previous charter school policy in December 2013, but it did not update its policy to include the missing language pointed out in our report until after we published our report in October 2017. The district's current policy does not establish how it will periodically review and update its charter school policy.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
1-Year Agency Response
- The Charter School Policy and Matrix have been updated to reflect current law and best practices. The Board of Trustees approved the AADUSD Charter School Policy and Matrix. The district is fully implementing the revised charter school policy. The charter school policy and Matrix will be reviewed annually for compliance with state law per the charter school policy. (See policy, page 1.)
Implementation Date: October 11, 2018.
- Completion Date: October 2018
- Response Date: October 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented
Although the revised charter school policy includes the new language regarding student outcomes that was amended in 2013, the charter review matrix does not contain this language.
6-Month Agency Response
The Charter School Policy and Matrix have been updated to reflect current law and best practices. The Board has completed the first read and it will be placed on the Board Agenda for June 2018. The Charter School Policy will be reviewed annually per the policy.
- Estimated Completion Date: June 2018
- Response Date: June 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending
Per Acton-Agua Dulce Unified's response, its implementation of this recommendation is currently pending.
60-Day Agency Response
The District has revised its charter school policy to reflect recent changes and clarifications of state law, Board approval is expected this school year. Going forward AADUSD staff will annually review its policy to make any necessary updates.
- Estimated Completion Date: Annually by July 1st
- Response Date: February 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
Per Acton-Agua Dulce Unified's response, its implementation of this recommendation is currently pending.
All Recommendations in 2016-141
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.